Fintan O’Toole: The DUP has entangled its destiny with the English Shinners

The little Englanders the DUP has aligned with have no desire to subsidise the North

DUP leader Arlene Foster has warned its “red line” that there could be no Brexit deal that would divide Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom was “blood red”. Audio: BBC Radio 4 Today

Any unionist with a stim of wit would understand that Northern Ireland’s future in the union depends on the Remainers. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

Hello, Mrs Mouth, may I introduce you to Mr Money? When we cut to the chase, Arlene Foster’s bluster comes down to a brutal and basic question: will the Little Englanders put their money where the DUP’s mouth is? And there is a brutal and basic answer: not bloody likely.

We are, finally, at the point when Arlene Foster’s “blood red line” must be crossed if a Brexit deal is to be done. The DUP has gambled the union on the belief that the Brexiteers are above all unionists and will never concede to any post-Brexit arrangements that differentiate between Northern Ireland and Britain. In this they are deluded to the point of insanity.